We greet soldiers with great joy when they return to their families. We light firecrackers and sing patriotic songs on July Fourth. We are proud to be Americans, but when it comes time to go to the polls, too many of us are missing. We always have excuses, but why would we miss taking part in an election?

We are so fortunate that we are not denied this privilege as some are in other countries. Absentee ballots make voting even easier. I just don’t understand the pathetically low voter turnout.